U.S. patent application number 11/769851 was filed with the patent office on 2008-01-10 for radio service area quality information acquisition system.
Invention is credited to Kozo Sakawa.
Application Number | 20080009279 11/769851 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38919670 |
Filed Date | 2008-01-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080009279 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Sakawa; Kozo |
January 10, 2008 |
Radio Service Area Quality Information Acquisition System
Abstract
Area quality information is collected from a user terminal
without applying an excessive traffic load to a system. Operation
maintenance center (OMC) (307) transmits a confirmation signal to a
wireless access terminal AT (305) through a base transceiver
station BTS (301), and receives a wireless access terminal
identifier from the wireless access terminal. The OMC stores the
received identifier of the wireless access terminal correspondingly
to an identifier of the base transceiver station. In a case where a
performance value acquired from the BTS is a previously determined
limit value or less, the OMC reads the identifier of the wireless
access terminal corresponding to the identifier of the base
transceiver station. The OMC transmits an acquisition instruction
of information to the wireless access terminal. The OMC acquires
area quality information including position information of the
wireless access terminal and radio waves information between the
wireless access terminal at the position and the base transceiver
station.
Inventors: |
Sakawa; Kozo; (Yokohama,
JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ANTONELLI, TERRY, STOUT & KRAUS, LLP
1300 NORTH SEVENTEENTH STREET
SUITE 1800
ARLINGTON
VA
22209-3873
US
|
Family ID: |
38919670 |
Appl. No.: |
11/769851 |
Filed: |
June 28, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
455/423 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W 24/00 20130101;
H04W 24/08 20130101; H04W 24/10 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/423 |
International
Class: |
H04Q 7/20 20060101
H04Q007/20 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 10, 2006 |
JP |
2006-189612 |
Claims
1. A radio service area quality information acquisition system
comprising: a base transceiver station that communicates with a
plurality of wireless access terminals, and measures and outputs a
performance value indicating a throughput of its own apparatus, the
number of call connections, or the usage rate of the base
transceiver station capacity; and a maintenance apparatus that
acquires area quality information of a radio area of the base
transceiver station in accordance with the performance value of the
base transceiver station, wherein the maintenance apparatus
transmits a confirmation signal to the plurality of wireless access
terminals through the base transceiver station, receives an
identifier of the wireless access terminal transmitted from one or
the plurality of wireless access terminals having received the
confirmation signal, stores the received identifier of the wireless
access terminal correspondingly to an identifier of the base
transceiver station, acquires a performance value of the base
transceiver station from the base transceiver station, reads an
identifier of a first wireless access terminal corresponding to the
identifier of the base transceiver station in a case where the
acquired performance value is a previously determined limit value
or less, transmits an acquisition instruction of information to the
first wireless access terminal in accordance with the read
identifier of the first wireless access terminal, and acquires the
area quality information including position information of the
first wireless access terminal and radio waves information between
the first wireless access terminal at the position and the base
transceiver station, which is transmitted from the first wireless
access terminal in accordance with the acquisition instruction.
2. The radio service area quality information acquisition system
according to claim 1, wherein the maintenance apparatus further
acquires a second performance value including communication by the
first wireless access terminal from the base transceiver station
after transmitting the acquisition instruction, reads an identifier
of a second wireless access terminal corresponding to the
identifier of the base transceiver station in a case where the
acquired second performance value is the previously determined
limit value or less, transmits an acquisition instruction of
information to the second wireless access terminal in accordance
with the read identifier of the second wireless access terminal,
and acquires the area quality information including position
information of the second wireless access terminal and radio waves
information between the second wireless access terminal at the
position and the base transceiver station, which is transmitted
from the second wireless access terminal in accordance with the
acquisition instruction.
3. The radio service area quality information acquisition system
according to claim 1, wherein the maintenance apparatus sets an
acquisition condition including a type of the radio waves
information acquired by the wireless access terminal, a
transmission time period of the information from the wireless
access terminal, and a transmission cycle, and transmits the set
acquisition condition and the acquisition instruction to the first
and/or the second wireless access terminal.
4. The radio service area quality information acquisition system
according to claim 1, further comprising a billing server to bill
for communication of the wireless access terminal, wherein the
maintenance apparatus transmits to the billing server a billing
stop instruction to stop billing for transmission of the identifier
of the wireless access terminal and/or the area quality information
from the first wireless access terminal.
5. The radio service area quality information acquisition system
according to claim 1, wherein an application for transmitting the
identifier of the wireless access terminal itself in accordance
with the confirmation signal and for transmitting the area quality
information in accordance with the acquisition instruction is
previously installed in the wireless access terminal, and among
terminals capable of communicating with the base transceiver
station, only the wireless access terminal in which the application
is installed responds to the confirmation signal.
6. The radio service area quality information acquisition system
according to claim 1, wherein the first and the second wireless
access terminals acquire the radio waves information to the base
transceiver station and the position information of the terminal
themselves periodically in accordance with the acquisition
instruction of the information, and when a call connection to
another wireless access terminal or device is made, or
communication is started, the first and the second wireless access
terminals buffers the radio waves information and the position
information acquired during the call connection or the
communication, and after the call is broken, the first and the
second wireless access terminals transmits the buffered radio waves
information and position information to the maintenance
apparatus.
7. The radio service area quality information acquisition system
according to claim 1, wherein the maintenance apparatus determines
the number of terminals according to the acquired performance value
and a limit value, and reads identifiers of a plurality of wireless
access terminals corresponding to the identifier of the base
transceiver station in accordance with the determined number of
terminals, and transmits acquisition instructions of information to
the wireless access terminals in accordance with the read
identifiers of the plurality of wireless access terminals.
8. The radio service area quality information acquisition system
according to claim 1, wherein the confirmation signal is
transmitted through a plurality of the base transceiver stations,
and the maintenance apparatus receives the identifier of the
wireless access terminal transmitted from the wireless access
terminal having received the confirmation signal from one of the
base transceiver stations, and the identifier of the base
transceiver station, and counts the number of receptions of the
identifiers of the wireless access terminals for each of
identifiers of the base transceiver stations, and stores a counted
value correspondingly to the identifier of the base transceiver
station.
9. The radio service area quality information acquisition system
according to claim 8, wherein the maintenance apparatus displays
the counted value correspondingly to the identifier of the base
transceiver station, inputs the identifier of the base transceiver
station selected by an administrator in accordance with the
display, and acquires the performance value of the base transceiver
station in accordance with the inputted identifier of the base
transceiver station.
10. The radio service area quality information acquisition system
according to claim 8, wherein the maintenance apparatus selects the
base transceiver station in which the counted value is a previously
determined value or more, and acquires the performance value of the
selected base transceiver station.
11. The radio service area quality information acquisition system
according to claim 1, wherein in the maintenance apparatus, when a
radio waves information acquisition instruction including the
identifier of the base transceiver station specified by an
administrator is inputted, sets the limit value to be larger than
the limit value to relax an acquisition condition of the radio
waves information from the base transceiver station.
12. A radio service area quality information acquisition system
comprising: a base transceiver station that communicates with a
plurality of wireless access terminals, and measures and outputs a
performance value indicating a throughput of its own apparatus, the
number of call connections, or a user reception state; and a
maintenance apparatus that acquires area quality information of a
radio area of the base transceiver station, wherein the maintenance
apparatus acquires the performance value of the base transceiver
station from the base transceiver station, determines a
transmission cycle of information from the wireless access terminal
based on the acquired performance value, sets an acquisition
condition including a type of radio waves information acquired by
the wireless access terminal, a transmission time period, and the
determined transmission cycle, transmits the set acquisition
condition and an acquisition instruction to the wireless access
terminal, and acquires area quality information including position
information of the wireless access terminal and radio waves
information between the wireless access terminal at the position
and the base transceiver station, which is transmitted from the
wireless access terminal at the determined transmission cycle in
accordance with the acquisition instruction.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to radio service area quality
information acquisition system, and particularly to radio service
area quality information acquisition system to acquire quality
information of a radio area formed by a radio communication
system.
[0002] In recent years, in a radio communication system, demand for
data communication is increasing in addition to voice call, and
various communication systems have been adopted in order to realize
higher speed/higher quality radio communication. As an example of
the communication system, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) in
which user signals of voice or the like are code-spread and
multiplexed, and communication is performed, 1x Evolution-Data Only
(1xEV-DO) specialized for data communication, or the like becomes
widespread, and even in a mobile communication environment, a user
is allowed to perform various communications. In order to
efficiently use various radio communication systems, it is
necessary that the quality of a radio area formed of radio waves
transmitted from a base transceiver station satisfies a quality
condition (interference condition) required by the radio
communication system. In the environment in which the quality of
the radio area does not satisfy the required condition, any high
speed radio communication system can hardly prove its worth.
[0003] At the time of designing installation of base transceiver
stations, a carrier (communication company) installs a base
transceiver station at an actual site in accordance with an optimum
station installation condition obtained by desk review, such as
radio area simulation, to ensure desired quality in a radio area.
However, at the actual site, especially at a densely-populated
area, the land form is changed by building construction or the like
with a passage of time, and at the same time, the transmission
environment of radio waves is also changed. Since the change of the
transmission environment greatly influences the servicability of
the radio communication service and user satisfaction, it is
necessary that the carrier periodically checks the quality of the
radio area, and confirms whether the original performance of the
radio communication system can be provided to the user. Besides,
with respect to the occurrence of a user claim, the radio service
area quality of the claim object point is immediately confirmed,
and it is necessary to quickly determine whether the cause is a
defect in a wireless facility or is a radio environment. According
to this result, it becomes necessary to fix/correct the wireless
facility or to change the facility installation state of an antenna
or the like in order to avoid the influence due to the
environmental factor.
[0004] From now, when Voice over IP (VoIP) service in a radio
communication system is developed, Quality of Service (QoS)
function to assign a radio link with priority to, for example, a
communication service required to be realtime, such as voice,
becomes important. In order to realize this function on the radio
communication system, as compared with the area quality required by
the radio communication system of the related art having no QoS
function, higher area quality is always required.
[0005] From the above, the confirmation of the radio service area
quality is an important work for the carrier to provide the radio
communication service, and it is one of important problems how to
perform this easily.
[0006] FIG. 1 shows an example of a working form of an area quality
check of the related art.
[0007] In the area quality check of the radio area, the following
process is generally performed. First, a radio wave measurement
machine and a positioning device (GPS or the like) are mounted in a
vehicle, and while driving is performed in an area to be measured,
radio wave measurement and positioning are simultaneously
performed. The radio wave measurement result and positioning
information are continuously recorded in a recording device during
the running. After all the measurement is finished, the measurement
result is subjected to a map matching processing on a map (for
example, a processing to display the strength of the received radio
waves by different colors at the measured positions on the map),
and the planar grasp of the area quality in the object area becomes
possible by seeing the processing result. For example, the measured
transmission and received power, the ratio of a carrier wave to an
interference wave, and the position information are used, and the
map matching view in which the level of values are expressed by
different colors at corresponding positions on the map is
confirmed, so that it is possible to easily grasp a weak electric
field region in the object area and a call processing performance
deteriorated region. By grasping such information, the installation
condition (for example, antenna orientation, base transceiver
station transmission power, etc.) of the base transceiver station
facility is changed and adjusted, and the radio wave condition in
the object area can be improved.
[0008] Besides, there is a proposal relating to area quality
information acquisition in which a user terminal is used, the user
terminal transmits radio wave information to a base transceiver
station side by some trigger, and an upper operation maintenance
center stores the wave information into a server, and automatically
edits the information into a necessary form (for example, map
matching of the radio wave information).
[0009] For example, patent document 1 discloses an apparatus which
includes position information/measurement value reception means for
receiving position information of a mobile station transmitted from
the mobile station and a measurement value of wireless quality, and
develops the received position information and the measurement
value of the received radio wave quality on a map. Patent document
2 discloses a system and a method in which when a periodic report
timer is time-out, the position information and quality information
of a mobile station are reported to a base transceiver station.
Patent document 3 discloses that when a measurement start condition
is satisfied, with respect to a cellular phone, transmitting/pause
is repeated a specified number of times, and communication quality
to antennas for cellular phones installed at respective places is
measured. Besides, it is disclosed that when a measurement value
transmission condition is satisfied, the measurement value is
transmitted from the cellular phone to the communication terminal
of a data collection center.
[0010] Patent document 1: JP-A-2002-152104
[0011] Patent document 2: JP-A-2000-341204
[0012] Patent document 3: JP-A-2002-335202
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0013] Hitherto, in order to confirm the area quality, it is
necessary to prepare a special vehicle having high capacity power
supply, and it is also necessary to secure persons who get into
this vehicle and perform driving, navigation of the running route
and monitoring of the measurement machine. Thus, for the
confirmation of the area quality, there occur enormous costs and
processes, such as equipment/machine expenses and personnel
expenses. As one of measures to reduce the costs and processes, it
is conceivable that necessary information is periodically
transmitted to the base transceiver station (upper server) from a
terminal of a general user. However, unless information, such as
the trigger of transmission, the content of information acquired at
the terminal, and the number of object terminals, is suitably
controlled, there is a possibility that the wireless line capacity
is filled with only the area quality information. Besides, when it
is assumed that the information is acquired from a general user
terminal, it is necessary to perform an operation control so that
the user's use of the terminal is not obstructed.
[0014] Under these problems, in the technique disclosed in the
patent document 1, the transmission trigger of the terminal is
fixed, and there is a case where a large influence is exerted on
the congestion of the wireless line or the use state of the user
terminal. Besides, information acquisition limited to a necessary
area (station) can not be performed, and there is a case where an
unnecessary data traffic load is given to the system. Incidentally,
the dedicated server disclosed in the patent document 1 merely
outputs instructions for measurement start.
[0015] The technique disclosed in the patent document 2 is the
information transmission completely on the initiative of the
terminal, and is not suitable for a case where confirmation of area
quality of a desired area is desired to be temporarily performed to
deal with the user's claim.
[0016] The technique disclosed in the patent document 3 is such
that the apparatus for the radio wave quality measurement is
mounted in traffic means or the like, and the terminal of a user is
not used. As the condition of the measurement start and the
condition of the measurement value transmission, although time
designation, point designation and the like are performed,
consideration is not given to the traffic load, the terminal use of
the user, and the like.
[0017] In view of the above, it is an object of the invention to
provide radio service area quality information acquisition system
in which an acquisition condition of area quality information is
set according to an actual area state, so that the area quality
information is collected from a user terminal whose consent is
previously obtained, and area quality information confirmation can
be performed. Besides, it is another object of the invention to
enable both periodic information acquisition and temporal
information acquisition by an area quality acquisition condition
previously set through an operation maintenance center.
[0018] It is another object of the invention to provide such that
in a case where area quality information is desired to be
periodically acquired, an acquisition condition of the area quality
information is set in a user's general user terminal from an
operation maintenance center through a wireless base transceiver
station, so that the set general user terminal periodically uploads
the area quality information in accordance with the condition.
Besides, it is another object of the invention to acquire area
quality information without performing an existing radio wave
measurement work requiring a special measurement machine. It is
another object of the invention to easily acquire area quality
information by performing a similar process also in a case where
area quality information is temporarily acquired.
[0019] Besides, it is another object of the invention to realize
collection of area quality information from a user terminal without
applying an unnecessary data traffic load to a radio communication
system by finely setting an area quality information acquisition
condition. It is another object of the invention to provide such
that an operation maintenance center determines a user terminal,
which is made to upload area quality information, in view of
performance states in respective devices in a system, and the
operation maintenance center issues a stop instruction of area
quality information collection in view of the performance states
also during area quality information acquisition. It is another
object of the invention to realize, by this, the acquisition of the
area quality information without generating an excess system
load.
[0020] Further, it is another object of the invention to provide a
system in which exchange between a user terminal and an operation
maintenance center, such as an area quality information acquisition
instruction from the operation maintenance center to the user
terminal and an information report from the user terminal to the
maintenance terminal, is all performed in an application layer, so
that an influence is not exerted by the radio access method of the
radio communication system or the applicable standard
specification. It is another object of the invention to provide
easy realization in an existing radio communication system without
giving an impact of hardware change to the existing system.
[0021] In order to achieve the objects, according to an aspect of
the invention, in a general user terminal for radio communication
owned by a user whose consent is previously obtained, a dedicated
application operated under instructions of an upper operation
maintenance center uses an operating system or an application
platform originally installed in the general user terminal. The
general user terminal follows the condition specified by the upper
operation maintenance center, and uploads area quality information
acquired by the general user terminal to the upper operation
maintenance center.
[0022] It is assumed that the user's consent is previously obtained
with respect to the installation of the dedicated application to
the general user terminal, and with respect to a call occurring
when the dedicated application uploads the area quality
information, the billing is free. Besides, favorable treatment in
some form, such as discount a bill to the user or giving a
privilege, can be given according to the number of times of upload
of the area quality information.
[0023] The cooperation of the mobile communication system and the
user terminal in the area quality information acquisition is one of
the points of the invention.
[0024] Besides, it is one of the features that the operation
maintenance center controls the information acquisition in view of
the system load so that an excessive system load is not applied in
the information acquisition of the radio area quality. It is one of
the features that the operation maintenance center independently
selects and controls the general user terminal, which is made to
upload, in view of the system load so that an excessive system load
is not applied in the information acquisition of the radio area
quality.
[0025] According to the first solving means of this invention,
there is provided radio service area quality information
acquisition system comprising:
[0026] a base transceiver station that communicates with a
plurality of wireless access terminals, and measures and outputs a
performance value indicating a throughput of its own apparatus, the
number of call connections, or receiving condition at user's
terminal; and
[0027] a maintenance apparatus that acquires area quality
information of a radio area of the base transceiver station in
accordance with the performance value of the base transceiver
station,
[0028] wherein the maintenance apparatus
[0029] transmits a confirmation signal to the plurality of wireless
access terminals through the base transceiver station,
[0030] receives an identifier of the wireless access terminal
transmitted from one or the plurality of wireless access terminals
having received the confirmation signal,
[0031] stores the received identifier of the wireless access
terminal correspondingly to an identifier of the base transceiver
station,
[0032] acquires a performance value of the base transceiver station
from the base transceiver station,
[0033] reads an identifier of a first wireless access terminal
corresponding to the identifier of the base transceiver station in
a case where the acquired performance value is a previously
determined limit value or less,
[0034] transmits an acquisition instruction of information to the
first wireless access terminal in accordance with the read
identifier of the first wireless access terminal, and
[0035] acquires the area quality information including position
information of the first wireless access terminal and radio waves
information between the first wireless access terminal at the
position and the base transceiver station, which is transmitted
from the first wireless access terminal in accordance with the
acquisition instruction.
[0036] According to the second solving means of this invention,
there is provided radio service area quality information
acquisition system comprising:
[0037] a base transceiver station that communicates with a
plurality of wireless access terminals, and measures and outputs a
performance value indicating a throughput of its own apparatus, the
number of call connections, or a user reception state; and
[0038] a maintenance apparatus that acquires area quality
information of a radio area of the base transceiver station,
[0039] wherein the maintenance apparatus
[0040] acquires the performance value of the base transceiver
station from the base transceiver station,
[0041] determines a transmission cycle of information from the
wireless access terminal based on the acquired performance
value,
[0042] sets an acquisition condition including a type of radio
waves information acquired by the wireless access terminal, a
transmission time period, and the determined transmission
cycle,
[0043] transmits the set acquisition condition and an acquisition
instruction to the wireless access terminal, and
[0044] acquires area quality information including position
information of the wireless access terminal and radio waves
information between the wireless access terminal at the position
and the base transceiver station, which is transmitted from the
wireless access terminal at the determined transmission cycle in
accordance with the acquisition instruction.
[0045] According to the invention, it is possible to provide such
that in a case where area quality information is desired to be
periodically acquired, an acquisition condition of the area quality
information is set in a user's general user terminal from an
operation maintenance center through a wireless base transceiver
station, so that the set general user terminal periodically uploads
the area quality information in accordance with the condition.
Besides, according to the invention, it is possible to acquire area
quality information without performing an existing radio wave
measurement work requiring a special measurement machine. According
to the invention, it is possible to easily acquire area quality
information by performing a similar process also in a case where
area quality information is temporarily acquired.
[0046] Besides, according to the invention, it is possible to
realize collection of area quality information from a user terminal
without applying an unnecessary data traffic load to a radio
communication system by finely setting an area quality information
acquisition condition. According to the invention, it is possible
to provide such that an operation maintenance center determines a
user terminal, which is made to upload area quality information, in
view of performance states in respective devices in a system, and
the operation maintenance center issues a stop instruction of area
quality information collection in view of the performance states
also during area quality information acquisition. According to the
invention, it is possible to realize, by this, the acquisition of
the area quality information without generating an excess system
load.
[0047] Further, according to the invention, it is possible to
provide a system in which exchange between a user terminal and an
operation maintenance center, such as an area quality information
acquisition instruction from the operation maintenance center to
the user terminal and an information report from the user terminal
to the maintenance terminal, is all performed in an application
layer, so that an influence is not exerted by the method of the
radio communication system or the applicable standard
specification. According to the invention, it is possible to
provide easy realization in an existing radio communication system
without giving an impact of hardware change to the existing
system.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0048] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of area quality information
acquisition in a mobile communication system of the related
art.
[0049] FIG. 2 is a system structural view of a mobile communication
system of an embodiment.
[0050] FIG. 3 is a system structural view of the mobile
communication system of the embodiment.
[0051] FIG. 4 is a sequence view up to area quality information
acquisition in the embodiment.
[0052] FIG. 5 is a flowchart relating to an operation maintenance
center operation for object terminal selection in the
embodiment.
[0053] FIG. 6 is a state transition view of the operation
maintenance center operation in the embodiment.
[0054] FIG. 7 is a sequence view up to area quality information
acquisition in the embodiment.
[0055] FIG. 8 is a detailed operation flowchart of a terminal AT in
the embodiment.
[0056] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a terminal of the
embodiment.
[0057] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a wireless base transceiver
station of the embodiment.
[0058] FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a wireless base station
controller of the embodiment.
[0059] FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an operation maintenance
center of the embodiment.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
(System Structure)
[0060] FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are system structural views of a mobile
communication system (radio communication system) of an
embodiment.
[0061] The communication system includes a wireless base
transceiver station (BTS) 301, a wireless access terminal (general
user terminal owned by a user, AT) 305, a wireless base station
controller (BSC) 306, an operation maintenance center (OMC) 307 and
an OMC server 308. Further, a billing system 310 may be
provided.
[0062] The general user terminal AT (305-1) owned by the user
communicates with the base transceiver station BTS1 (301) in a zone
1 (303). The BTS1 (301) and BTS2 (302) are connected to a public
network (309) such as an IP network, the billing system (310), and
the operation maintenance center OMC (307) through the base station
controller BSC (306) connected by wire.
[0063] A description will be given to the case of the wireless
access terminal AT (305), the wireless base transceiver station
BTS1 (301), the wireless base station controller BSC (306), the
operation maintenance center OMC (307) and the OMC server
(308).
[0064] The AT (305) is a general-purpose wireless access terminal,
and realizes a user interface for call connection, radio
communication with the BTS1 (301), and positioning function. The
BTS1 (301) realizes a radio communication function with the AT, and
a broadcast function of traffic data. The BSC (306) realizes
functions such as connection control, inter-station switching
control (handoff control), broadcast function of traffic data to
the connected BTS, and billing information control. Further, the
OMC (307) and the OMC server (308) include an input/output
interface for enabling a system administrator to operate and a
display device, and realizes functions such as generation of
setting information (condition information) for area quality
information acquisition, aggregation of collected area quality
information and map matching processing, and storage of the
collected data into the OMC server (308).
(Operation)
[0065] FIG. 4 is a sequence view of operation from area quality
information acquisition to an upload in the embodiment.
[0066] First of all, for example, for the purpose of grasping the
number of ATs existing for each BTS in the mobile communication
system, a terminal confirmation signal is transmitted from the OMC
(307) to the AT (305) through the BSC (306) and the BTS1 (301).
Incidentally, the signal may be transmitted to the ATs in plural
areas through plural BTSs. When an AT (305) (hereinafter referred
to as an object terminal) in which a dedicated application for area
quality information acquisition/upload is previously installed
receives this terminal confirmation signal (S400-4), this AT (305)
transmits connection information to the OMC (307) through the BSC
(306) and the BTS1 (301) (S410). Incidentally, the AT in which the
dedicated application is not previously installed neglects the
terminal confirmation signal.
[0067] The connection information includes, for example, an object
station (BTS) or an identifier (PN) of a sector with which the AT
(305) is presently call-connected or can communicate, the position
information (latitude/longitude information) of the AT, and unique
identification information (suitable identifier such as an
identification number) owned by the AT.
[0068] The OMC (307), which has received the connection information
at step S410 as the response to the terminal confirmation signal
(S400), lists how many object ATs exist for each BTS (P410). For
example, based on the identifier of the BTS included in the
received connection information, the number of receptions of the
connection information is counted for each BTS, and the count value
is stored for each identifier of the BTS. Besides, the
identification information of the AT is stored for each identifier
of the BTS.
[0069] Incidentally, when the position information included in the
connection information (S410) is used, based on the connection
information (S410), the OMC (307) can draw the position where the
AT exists on the map, or can create a list of the number of users
for each station. The OMC (307) may display the created list.
[0070] The system administrator confirms the information generated
and displayed by the OMC (307), and can grasp whether a sufficient
number of ATs for determination of the area quality exist in the
object area for which the area quality is desired to be confirmed
or in the vicinity of the object station. The information obtained
based on the connection information of the AT is used, and at step
P420, the system administrator determines the acquisition condition
of the area quality information and may set it in the OMC
(307).
[0071] Next, the OMC (307) sets the acquisition condition of the
area quality information (P420). As the acquisition condition of
the area quality information set here, there is, for example, the
type of radio waves information, an acquisition time period
(transmission time period), an acquisition cycle (transmission
cycle), an AT condition or the like. As the type of the radio waves
information, the radio wave information acquired and calculated by
the AT in the communication system can be used. For example, there
is the received radio waves strength RSSI (Received Signal Strength
Indicator) [dBm], the ratio of carrier wave to interference wave
C/I (Carrier to Interference Noise Ratio) [dB], the identifier PN
(pseudo Noise) code of a station/sector with which the AT
communicates, received carrier wave power C [dBm], or the ratio of
received pilot power per chip to all received spectrum density
Ec/IO [dB]. Identifiers are previously assigned to the respective
pieces of radio waves information, and one or not less than two of
the identifiers can be selected. Although the information acquired
and calculated by the AT varies according to the radio
communication system, the radio waves information necessary for
each system to keep the communication quality is acquired and
calculated in the insides of all general user terminals, and in
this embodiment, the radio waves information originally owned in
the inside of the existing general user terminal can be used.
[0072] The acquisition time period indicates the time period when
the AT transmits the acquisition information. The acquisition cycle
indicates the cycle in which the AT transmits the acquisition
information or the AT extracts the acquisition information and
stores it in the memory.
[0073] The AT condition is the condition for selection of the AT
which is made to transmit the area quality information to the OMC
(307). In order to transmit the area quality information, in this
embodiment, the dedicated application is previously installed in
the AT, however, all ATs in which the dedicated application is
installed are not necessarily used as the AT to transmit the area
quality information. In order to prevent an unnecessary data
traffic load from being applied to the radio communication system,
the number of ATs which are made to transmit the area quality
information is optimized according to the number of users already
contained, and the total throughput value in station/sector
units.
[0074] For that purpose, a system control condition (limit value) a
is previously set in the OMC (307) by the system administrator. The
system limit condition a means the upper limit value to allow
communication for area quality information acquisition with respect
to a performance value indicating a user reception state, such as
the total throughput in station/sector units or the number of call
connections. Incidentally, cc is not necessarily represented by one
value. In the case where it is necessary to determine the
performance of the system by using plural parameters, a exists for
each of the parameters. Here, the system limit condition where
plural values can exist is generically called a. Basically, the OMC
(307) operates to acquire the area quality information within the
range of the system limit condition a. Thus, the OMC (307) always
monitors the performance values of all BTSs and BSCs through which
the area quality information is acquired. Incidentally, with
respect to the object BTS and BSC, the performance value may be
obtained at each time.
[0075] Thus, although the AT condition can be arbitrarily specified
by the system administrator, the OMC (307) can independently
specify the AT to transmit the area quality information in view of
the performance value of the BTS or BSC. Besides, the OMC (307)
selects the BTS in which the number of ATs connected to and
communicating with the BTS is a previously determined number or
more, and the performance value satisfies the specified condition
a, and may select the plural ATs in the BTS. By this, for example,
with respect to the area of the wide range covered by the BTS, the
area quality information can be acquired.
[0076] FIG. 5 is a flowchart relating to the operation of the
operation maintenance center OMC for object terminal selection. The
procedure in which the OMC (307) independently specifies the AT to
transmit the area quality information will be specifically
described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5. This
corresponds to the processing of S410 and P420 of FIG. 4.
[0077] The OMC (307) receives the connection information (501, FIG.
4: S410-4), and can grasp which AT is connected to which station
(sector). The OMC (307) collects the performance value of the
object station (BTS) to acquire the area quality information and
the BSC connected thereto (502). For example, in the case of
periodic information acquisition, the object station to acquire the
area quality information can be determined in accordance with a
previously determined schedule. In the case where information of a
specific BTS is desired to be temporarily acquired, the object
station can be made the BTS. Incidentally, the performance value is
collected from, for example, the BTS or BSC. The OMC (307) compares
the acquired performance value with the system limit condition a
(503). Here, for example, the system limit condition a can be made
a previously determined threshold. When the performance value is
the system limit value or less, an instruction of area quality
information transmission and setting information are sent to one of
the object terminals connected to the object station (504, FIG. 4:
S420). Incidentally, the number of the object terminals is not
limited to one, and plural terminals are selected and the
instruction and the like may be sent to each of them. The number of
terminals to which the instructions are sent may be determined
based on the performance value and the system limit condition. For
example, when a difference between the performance value and the
system control condition is large, the number of terminals may be
made large, while the difference between the performance value and
the system control condition is small, the number of terminals may
be made small.
[0078] Hereinafter, a return is made to processing 502 of FIG. 5,
and as long as the performance value is the system limitation
condition or less, the number of object terminals which are made to
transmit the area quality information is increased (502 to 505). At
this time, the OMC (307) grasps the object terminal and the area
quality information transmission instruction state. Incidentally,
since it is conceivable that a time is required before the
influence of the increase of the ATs to transmit the area quality
information appears in the performance value of the BTS and the
BSC, DELAY is included in the flow of FIG. 5 in order to cause the
influence of the increase of the ATs to be certainly reflected in
the information acquired at processing 502.
[0079] The billing for the communication necessary for the area
quality information transfer between the AT (305) and the OMC (307)
can be made not to be performed. The OMC (307) cooperates with the
BTS and the BSC based on the connection information received at
step S410, and manages the call connection recording of the
communication performed by the respective ATs to transmit the area
quality information. The managed call connection recording for each
AT is transmitted as the area quality call connection information
to the billing system (310) (S411, S431). The billing system (310)
receives the area quality call connection information (S411, S431),
and performs the processing to nullify the billing for the call
connection performed for the area quality information upload by the
AT indicated by the information. The transmission trigger of the
area quality call connection information from the OMC (307) to the
billing system (310) can be performed at, for example, any time
after the area quality information is received by the OMC (307) at
after-mentioned step S430 and at the time point when the processing
load in the OMC (307) is light. Besides, it may be after the OMC
(307) receives the connection information at step S410. However,
for example, in the case where the receiving interval of the area
quality information is short, the area quality call connection
information is collected in a certain time interval and may be sent
to the billing system (310). Incidentally, as long as the area
quality call connection information is not received from the OMC
(307), the billing system (310) does not perform the nullification
processing of the billing.
[0080] The setting information including the acquisition condition
of the area quality information set by the OMC (307) or inputted to
the OMC (307) by the system administrator is transmitted to the AT
satisfying the set terminal condition through the BSC (306) and the
BTS1 (301) (S420). When the AT as the object terminal receives the
setting information (S420-4), in accordance with the content of the
setting information, the acquisition/transmission of the area
quality information is performed under the specified condition.
Incidentally, the details of the processing of the AT will be
described later.
[0081] The acquisition information transmitted by the AT (305) is
sent to the OMC (307) through the BTS1 (301) and the BSC (306)
(S430). The OMC (307) having received the acquisition information
transfers the acquisition information (S430) to the maintenance
server (308) (S430-5). Further, the OMC (307) performs the map
matching processing based on the acquisition information (P430).
The maintenance server (308) stores the acquisition information
received at step S430-5. Besides, data (S440) subjected to the map
matching processing is periodically overwritten and stored in the
maintenance server (308).
[0082] After this, the AT (305) repeatedly performs the
acquisition/transmission of the area quality information till the
expiration of the acquisition time period specified by the setting
information (S420).
[0083] In the case where the series of processings are desired to
be ended before the expiration of the acquisition time period of
the area quality information according to the convenience of the
system administrator, the increase of the performance value or the
like, the system administrator uses the OMC (307), or the OMC (307)
automatically issues an information acquisition stop instruction
(S450). The AT (305) having received this instruction immediately
stops the processing. In the one issuance of the information
acquisition stop instruction (S450), the OMC (307) repeatedly
transmits the stop instruction at definite time intervals (S460 to
S4N0). The time interval and the repetition number follows the
condition previously set in the OMC (307) by the system
administrator. Here, the reason why the stop instruction is
repeatedly transmitted is that in the case where there accidentally
occurs a phenomenon in which the stop instruction can not be
received according to the condition of received radio waves at the
AT, in order to prevent that a stop is not completed by this, the
stop instruction is additionally transmitted to certainly make the
stop.
[0084] Incidentally, the OMC (307) always compares the performance
value (for example, the total throughput in station or sector, the
number of call connections, etc.) of the BTS and the BSC through
which the area quality information is acquired with the system
limit condition a set by the system administrator in advance.
[0085] FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of station transition relating
to this operation. When the transmission of the area quality
information by the AT is started, the OMC (307) basically repeats
the transition between states 601 and 602. In the case where the
BTS or the BSC continuously exceeds the system limit condition a in
a certain time previously set by the system administrator, even
before the expiration of the acquisition time period of the area
quality information, the OMC (307) changes to a state 603, and
issues the information acquisition stop instruction (S450).
[0086] FIG. 7 is an operation sequence view when a user originates
a call.
[0087] Next, with reference to FIG. 7, a description will be given
to an operation sequence when the user originates a call while the
repeat processing of acquisition/upload of the area quality
information is being performed. The AT (305) transmits the
acquisition information plural times (S710 to S730, corresponding
to S430 of FIG. 4).
[0088] When a call (or communication) is originated after the AT
(305) transmits the acquisition information (P740), the AT (305)
temporarily stops the transmission of the acquisition information,
and holds the transmission scheduled position/radio waves
information in the inside of the AT until the call is broken by the
user. During this, the acquisition and storage of the position and
the radio information may be continued. After the call is finished
by the user, the AT (305) reopens the processing in accordance with
the condition of the setting information (S750) For example, the AT
(705) collects the held position and radio waves information and
may transmits them to the OMC (307).
[0089] As stated above, in the series of processings of the
acquisition/transmission of the area quality information, in the
case where the call origination from the AT by the user occurs, the
real-time transmission of the area quality information is
unnecessary, and the AT (305) may transmit it at a timing usable
for the area quality information transmission.
[0090] In FIG. 2, the AT (305-1) repeats the
acquisition/transmission processing of the area quality information
in a zone 1 (303), and when the user starts to use, the AT (305-2)
changes to the operation of call connection priority processing of
the user, and the state continues until the call connection is
ended (305-3). After the call connection is ended, the transmission
of the area quality information is reopened (305-4).
[0091] The case as stated above is the same also in the case of
extending over different zones. A description will be made with
reference to FIG. 3.
[0092] The AT (305-1) repeats the acquisition/transmission
processing of the area quality information in a zone 1 (303), and
when the user starts to use, the AT (305-2) changes to the
operation of call connection priority processing of the user. In
the case where the user moves to a different zone 2 in this state,
and is connected to the different BTS2 (302), after the call
connection is ended in this zone 2 (304), the AT (305) transmits
the area quality information to the OMC (307) through the BTS2.
[0093] FIG. 8 is an operation flowchart of the AT.
[0094] Next, the processing sequence in the inside of the AT will
be described with reference to FIG. 8.
[0095] When the AT (305) as the object terminal receives the
setting information and the acquisition instruction of information
(S420), first, the area quality information acquisition condition
included in the setting information is set in the application of
the AT (305) (801). Here, the AT which is not the object terminal,
that is, the AT in which the dedicated application for the area
quality information acquisition is not installed does not respond
even if the setting information is received (S420).
[0096] The application in which the condition is set first
determines whether its own AT corresponds to the AT requested by
the OMC (307) to acquire the area quality information (802). This
determination becomes necessary, for example, in the case where an
enormous number of ATs exist in an area. There is a possibility
that when the area quality information is acquired from all ATs in
an area (station), a large traffic load is temporarily applied to
the system. In order to avoid this, for example, with respect to
unique identification numbers (manufacture numbers, identification
numbers temporarily generated in the call processing, etc.) owned
by the respective ATs, a condition is provided to limit the ATs to
those having numbers within a specified range or those having
even/odd lower one digit, so that the number of ATs which acquires
and upload the area quality information can be greatly reduced.
[0097] The AT determined to be irrelevant at the determination
(802) ends the processing without doing anything. The AT determined
to be relevant sets, with respect to an item (type of radio waves
information) specified by the area quality information acquisition
condition included in the setting information, the output of the
information in the chip (CPU to execute the radio communication
system) in the inside of the AT (803), and acquires the radio waves
information outputted from the chip (804). Besides, in
synchronization with the information acquisition from this chip,
the AT acquires also the position information from the GPS
receiving device provided in the AT (804).
[0098] Before the acquired position information and radio waves
information are transmitted to the OMC (307), it is determined
whether the user is using the AT (305) (805). In the case of using,
the transmission scheduled acquisition information (position
information and radio waves information) is once stored in the
buffer. After this, the use state is periodically monitored until
the user breaks the call, and at the time point when the state
where the call is finished is confirmed, the information is
transmitted to the OMC (307) (807).
[0099] After transmitting the position information and the radio
waves information to the OMC (307), the AT determines whether the
acquisition stop instruction (S450 of FIG. 4, etc.) of the
information is received from the OMC (307) (808). In the case where
the acquisition stop instruction is received, the AT ends the
series of processings at this time point. On the other hand, in the
case where the acquisition stop instruction is not received, the AT
determines whether the acquisition time period specified by the
area quality information acquisition condition included in the
setting information (S420) is exceeded (809). In the case where the
acquisition time period is exceeded, the AT ends the processing,
while in the case where it is not exceeded, in order to synchronize
the processing cycle with the acquisition cycle specified by the
area quality information acquisition condition, the acquisition
cycle matching is performed in the synchronization part (810), and
a return is made again to the processing process (804) of the
information acquisition.
[0100] The processing according to the sequence is performed, so
that the acquisition of the area quality information in accordance
with the area quality information acquisition condition and the
transmission to the OMC are realized.
(Hard Structure)
[0101] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the wireless access terminal AT
(305).
[0102] The AT (305) includes a reception device (3051), a
controller, a communication device (3054), a buffer (3055) and
memories (3058 to 3060). The controller includes an OS processing
unit (3052), a position information calculation unit (3053), an
acquisition information setting unit (3056), and an application
control unit (3057). Incidentally, in the drawing, the memories
include the memory A (3058), the memory B (3059) and the memory C
(3060), they can include a suitable number of memories and storage
units.
[0103] The communication device (3054) included in the AT (305) has
a communication antenna and a modulation/demodulation function. The
communication device (3054) is connected with the buffer (3055)
which temporarily stores information to be received/transmitted.
The radio communication with the BTS1 (301) is realized by the
communication device (3054) and the buffer (3055).
[0104] The dedicated application for area quality information
acquisition/upload is previously installed in the AT (305), and
this application is stored in, for example, the memory A (3058).
The OS processing unit (3052) started simultaneously with
application of power of AT (305) refers to the memory A (3058)
after completion of the start of the OS and starts the dedicated
application.
[0105] The setting information transmitted from the OMC (307)
through the communication device (3054) and the buffer (3055) is
once stored in, for example, the memory B (3059). The application
control unit (3057) periodically confirms the memory B (3059), and
in the case where the setting information (S420) is stored,
necessary information is extracted from here, and is set in the
acquisition information setting unit (3056). Subsequently, the
acquisition information setting unit (3056) acquires the necessary
radio waves information from the communication device unit (3054)
in accordance with the set content, and stores the acquired radio
waves information in the memory B (3059).
[0106] Besides, the AT (305) includes the GPS device (3051) as
means for acquiring the position information of the AT (305). The
reception device (3051) includes a GPS antenna and has functions to
receive the GPS signal and to extract necessary information. The
position information calculation unit (3053) calculates the
latitude/longitude information of the AT (305) based on the GPS
signal received through the GPS device (3051). The calculated
position information (latitude/longitude) is stored in, for
example, the memory B (3059). Incidentally, unique identification
information (identification number) previously assigned to each AT
is stored in the memory C. The memory C is, for example, a read
only memory: ROM (Read Only Memory) and has specifications in which
a change can not be made by the user.
[0107] After it is confirmed that the radio waves information and
the position information are stored in the memory B (3059), the
application control unit (3057) combines these informations and the
identification information of the memory C and sends them to the
communication device (3054) through the buffer (3055). The
communication device (3054) transmits these informations to the
BTS1 by wireless.
[0108] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of the wireless base transceiver
station BTS (301).
[0109] The BTS1 (301) includes a communication device (3011) to
enable radio communication with the AT (305) and a buffer (3012),
and the communication device (3011) has a communication antenna and
a modulation/demodulation function. The communication device (3011)
is connected with the buffer (3012) which temporarily stores the
information to be received/transmitted.
[0110] The BTS1 (301) further includes a main signal processing
unit (3013) to process traffic data, a control signal processing
unit (3014) to process control information, a broadcast control
unit (3015) to perform control/processing necessary to
simultaneously distribute (broadcast) the same information to all
ATs under control, a performance value collection unit (3017) to
collect/assemble various performance values of the BTS1 (301), and
an IF unit (3016) as an interface to transfer information to/from
the upper base station controller BSC (306). In the BTS1 (301)
having received the setting information transmitted by the OMC
(307), the setting information (S420) is copied by the broadcast
control unit (3015) and is transmitted to all ATs (305) existing in
the zone 1 (303) formed by itself.
[0111] Incidentally, since the BTS2 (302) shown in FIG. 3 can have
the same structure as the BTS1 (301) of FIG. 10, its description
will be omitted.
[0112] FIG. 11 is a block diagram of the wireless base station
controller BSC (306).
[0113] The BSC (306) includes an IF unit (3063) to interface with
the public network (309), the OMC (307) and the billing system
(310), a buffer (3069) to temporarily store data to be
transmitted/received, a selector unit (3064) to perform channel
selection between the BSC (306) and the plural BTSs, a performance
value collection unit (3070) to collect/assemble various
performance values of the BSC (306), and IF units (3061, 3062) to
interface with a control unit, a memory (3068) and the respective
BTSs. The control unit includes a selector control unit (3065), a
broadcast control unit (3066), and a billing information control
unit (3067).
[0114] When the setting information for setting the area quality
information acquisition condition to the AT is received through the
IF unit (3063), information of an object station to which the
setting information is broadcasted is also received from the OMC
(307) at the same time. The information of the object station is
sent to the broadcast control unit (3066). In the broadcast control
unit (3066), the setting information (S420) is copied, and the
object station information to cause the setting information (S420)
to be routed to all stations or some stations is sent to the
selector control unit (3065). The selector control unit (3065)
controls the selector unit (3064) based on the object station
information, and performs routing.
[0115] With respect to all communications relating to the
acquisition of the area quality information, in order to prevent
the user from being billed for the communication charge, the
billing information control unit (3067) encourages the billing
system (310) through the IF unit (3063) to exclude the billing for
the related call.
[0116] FIG. 12 is a block diagram of the operation maintenance
center OMC (307).
[0117] The OMC (307) includes an IF unit (3071) to interface with
the public network (309) and the base station controller (306), a
buffer (3074) to temporarily store data transmitted/received
to/from the IF unit (3071), an information extraction unit (3076)
to extract necessary information from the acquisition information
transmitted from the AT (305), a data aggregation unit (3078) and a
map matching generation unit (3080) to perform data aggregation and
map matching view generation based on the extracted information, an
IF unit (3072) and a buffer unit (3075) to interface with the OMC
server (308) and to perform buffering in order to store the
information extracted from the acquisition information into the OMC
server (308), an IF unit (3073) to interface with an input/output
device (3085) and a display device (3084) used by the system
administrator to set the area quality information acquisition
condition, a setting information generation unit (3077) to generate
setting information from the area quality information acquisition
condition set in the OMC (307), and a performance
monitor/information collection control unit (3083) to monitor
performance values of devices in the system, such as the BTS (301)
and the BSC (306), and to control the area quality information
collection operation as the need arises. Besides, a map DB (3082)
and a base transceiver station DB (3081) may be further
included.
[0118] The OMC (307) does not necessarily exist in one-to-one
correspondence to the one BSC, and there can exist a structure in
which the OMC is connected to another BSC through the public
network (309). The system administrator uses the display device
(3084) and the input/output device (3085) connected to the OMC
(307), and can set the area quality information acquisition
condition and the system limit condition .alpha.. The designation
of the object station can also be performed in the area quality
information acquisition condition set here. The setting information
(420) generated in the setting information generation unit (3077)
based on the set information is transmitted to the base station
controller (306) through the buffer (3074). As the system limit
condition a, there is, as an example, a total throughput in
station/sector units, a line usage rate, the number of call
connections or the like.
[0119] The acquisition information (S430) transmitted from the AT
(305) and received by the OMC (307) passes through the IF unit
(3071) and the buffer (3074), and then, the radio waves information
and the position information are extracted by the information
extraction unit (3076). On the one hand, the extracted information
is stored in the OMC server (308) through the buffer (3075) and the
IF unit (3072). On the other hand, the information is sent to the
data aggregation unit (3078) and the map matching generation unit
(3080). In the data aggregation unit (3078), the information is
aggregated in a tabular form, and the aggregation result is sent to
the display control unit (3079) and to the OMC server (308) for the
purpose of storing the aggregation result.
[0120] Besides, the map matching generation unit (3080) obtains the
necessary information from the base transceiver station database
(base transceiver station DB) (3081) and the map database (map DB)
(3082) included in the OMC (307), and generates a map matching view
in which the station position, the antenna direction of the station
and the PN of the station are shown on the map, and the intensity
of the radio waves information is represented by color. The map
matching view generated here is sent to the display control unit
(3079) and to the OMC server (308) for the purpose of storing the
map matching view. The display control unit (3079) performs the
necessary control to the display device (3084) and the transfer of
the information in order to cause the display device (3084) to
display the information received from the data aggregation unit
(3078) and the map matching generation unit (3080). The display
control unit (3079) functions in various objects, for example,
information in another control unit such as the setting information
generation unit (3077) is displayed.
[0121] The system structure in the embodiment is made the same in
both of the periodic information acquisition of the area quality
information and the extra information acquisition. Both requests
for the periodic and the extra information acquisition can be dealt
with by suitably setting the length of the acquisition
condition/information acquisition time period included in the
setting information (S420) transmitted from the OMC (307).
[0122] When the radio waves information acquisition instruction
including the identifier of the base transceiver station specified
by the administrator is inputted, the OMC (307) can relax the
acquisition condition of the radio waves information from the base
transceiver station by setting the limit value a to be larger than
the limit value.
[0123] Incidentally, based on the acquired performance value, the
OMC (307) determines the transmission cycle of the information from
the wireless access terminal, and may set the acquisition condition
including the type of the radio waves information acquired by the
wireless access terminal, the transmission time period, and the
determined transmission cycle. The OMC (307) transmits the set
acquisition condition and the acquisition instruction to the
wireless access terminal, and can acquire, in accordance with the
acquisition instruction, the area quality information including the
position information of the wireless access terminal transmitted
from the wireless access terminal at the determined transmission
cycle, and the radio waves information between the wireless access
terminal at the position and the base transceiver station.
[0124] The invention can be used for, for example, a radio
communication system, an apparatus to measure area quality of the
system, a service and the like.
* * * * *